For those of you who don't read Russian, the article basically says that the Russian government will pay for graduate students to study in Western universities...provided they return after they complete their degrees.

I have to say this is an admirable move by the government. I also think that English teachers in Russia should branch out and learn to teach GRE/GMAT/LSAT

This is accurate except the part about completing their degrees. There is a fixed amount and it does not necessarily even cover a course for one year (not with expensive UK fees anyway).

Putin might be a lot of bad things but he is not stupid enough to allow the Russian economy to collapse! This would cause an uprising and he would be swept from power, something him and his thieving cronies are not yet ready for!

This is the kind of thing which bothers most Russian people much more than politics or '*beep* girls' who would do better to take care of their kids, rather than try to overthrow the regime with noisy, lurid but ultimately ineffective protests!
Rising food prices could spell serious trouble for the govt. and I'm sure they are well aware of this?